Legendborn (Legendborn, #1)

Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of City of Bones with a modern-day twist on a classic legend and a lot of Southern Black Girl Magic.

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Black girl magic.
• Secret societies filled with magic and betrayal.
• Complex plots with different types of magic.
• Squad feels with characters that are easy to fall in love with.
• Strong friendship bonds.
• Family bonds that transcend death.
• Betrayal and secrets that stretch back generations.

Many thanks to Margaret K. McElderry Books and Hear Our Voices for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Black girl magic gets me every time, and so do stories based on the legend of King Arthur, so combining the two just seemed … efficient? Perfect? Like something I had to read? How about we just check all of the above.

Legendborn is an exploration into racism, the “sanctity” of tradition, family and friendship bonds, magic, and finding your place, with a healthy dose of secrets and betrayal.

I don’t even know where to start or what to say with this book other than read it? I mean, for sure. It has a little of something for everyone, and it tackles important issues in a way that doesn’t make the book about them, per se, but they’re an important discussion in regards to how the book unfolds.

This world is magic layered on top of the real world, based on the legend of King Arthur, and it was so easy to slip into.

I don’t want to go too much into the magic, because that would actually be a pretty big spoiler. You sort of have to see it. What I will say is that I love the twist to the Arthurian legend. It’s a little messier, a bit darker, but entirely compelling. If you know anything about the legend and Arthur’s knights, you maybe can figure out some of the magic, because it’s based on the original Knights of the Round Table.

Since just having magic clearly isn’t enough, and magic users need things to fight, right, this book throws in the added complication of demons. But they’re maybe not quite what you think.

They tend to take the form of warped, giant, clearly evil and malevolent animals, which are absolutely terrifying. Would I still take one home and try to make it a pet? Yeah, probably. But not an approach I would recommend. Some of the descriptions of these demons were absolutely harrowing, and I absolutely loved it. It seemed like there was always some new demon to be discovered, which is bad for the characters. Good for me, though! I loved seeing the variety.

Legendborn tackles a lot of tough issues, such as death and grief and racism.

This are big issues, but this book tackles them with grace and a certain delicateness, while not shying away from the ugliness of either one. The grief is almost immediate, from page one, and it cut me to the quick right away. Get ready for some feels going into this, because I was not at all ready and it caught me off guard. Deonn does a stunning job capturing the mind-numbing, anxiety-inducing reality of finding out someone you love is suddenly gone.

Where the narrative really shined was in its handling of the racism that Bree faces.

The racism in this book is sometimes subtle, sometimes not, but always on the nose. It isn’t the focus of the book, but it’s an inevitable discussion arisen by the setting and content of the book, and it just struck such a chord.

For Black readers, you might pull at your racism bingo cards while you read this, because it’s got all the oldies and goodies. Some of them made me roll my eyes, and some made me want to reach into the book and throttle some of these characters myself. Especially given that Bree is sixteen and the way she’s treated. Ugh.

If you’re not Black and you’re reading this … I know you may be tempted to roll your eyes and say, this doesn’t really happen in 2020. Stop exaggerating. But pleeeease don’t dismiss these things so easily, because as a Black woman currently living in the South … I assure you that these things still happen with shocking regularity, and I implore you to pay attention and not take it lightly.

The romance in this is sweet and probably enticing to any fans of that sort of romance … but for people like me who crave enemies-to-lovers, there’s some whiffs of that, too.

The best thing about finishing this book is that nothing with the romance is actually set for sure, which is nice since the protagonist is sixteen an what sixteen-year-old has it all figured out? I’m excited to see what the next books will bring for these teens.

If you like a sweet romance, you’ll probably enjoy the one in this book … but don’t get settled in just yet. Because things may not be as happily ever after as it seems, and there’s a definite love triangle here.

I thought the romance in this book felt a little too easy and cheesily sweet, and there’s not anything wrong with that. But there’s also some whiffs of some potential enemies-to-lovers plot going on. Nothing is settled or decided. After all, this is book one of a series, right? So my fingers are still crossed for the couple that I want to get together.

So really, this has something for everyone. Want some sweet romance? This book has it. Still holding out for something a little more complicated in terms of the romance? Welp, you might just get that, too. We’ll have to wait for book two to find out!

These characters absolutely wormed their way into my heart, in ways I hadn’t quite expected.

Bree, in particular, is so similar to me, which may be why I connected so much with the book. More on that later, though.

Nick is a little too good to be true, and yet he is, which makes him a cinnamon roll deserving to be protected at all cost. He genuinely cares about the people around him, and he tries so hard to do what he thinks is right. Even though he’s not perfect, in a book full of darker people, he really stands out and shines.

Sel is absolutely my favorite. Is that a surprise? He’s the dark, brooding, assassin type, who would sooner stab you than actually have a real conversation, with maybe a sprinkling of anger issues on top. In other words, he’s perfect. The more his history is revealed, the more his attitude makes sense, and I just fell in love with him over and over again.

There are some definite squad vibes in this book, with all the kids in the secret society that work together.

I’m for sure not saying they’re all one big, happy family. There’s conflicts and jealousies and all sorts of complications, which I appreciate. But when push comes to shove? These kids pull through. Even the side characters I started out hating, I learned to at least appreciate to some extent.

Why this book means so much to me

I normally don’t do personal reactions to books, but I just have to for this one, because it hit me in all the right (wrong?) ways.

As a teenager, I was Bree in so many different ways.

Thankfully, I never lost either of my parents (and unfortunately, I possess absolutely no magic). However, the overachiever who goes to college young? Yup, got that covered. The token “Black girl” who is somehow expected to represent Blacks in white spaces … yup, got that, too. And especially, a young Black woman living in the South? Oh boy do I got that.

Bree’s struggle to find a place as a Black woman in institutions that weren’t created for her, that were structured specifically to keep people like her out, resonated with me so freaking much.

It’s something I often have to grapple with. Living in the South, it’s almost an everyday occurrence, some reminder that you were never meant to be “here,” in whatever space it is. Is everyone in the South racist? No. Of course not. I have fantastic friends and a support group here, just like Bree does. But just because everyone isn’t like that doesn’t mean we should disregard the fact that some people are, and they tend to be loud and powerful.

I mean, to make a comparison, if not everyone kicked you in the shin when they walked past, would you suddenly tell people to stop complaining when someone does kick them in the shin because it only happens “sometimes”? Nah. You’d hopefully try to take care of the rando who’s kicking people in the shin, right? That’s how the racism in this book feels. No, it’s not everyone, but the fact that it happens to a 16-year-old child by people in positions of power isn’t something that should be ignored or taken lightly, and no, it’s also not an exaggeration. This. Mess. Happens. Far more often than most people like to believe.

I absolutely loved Bree and how she challenged the racist stereotypes by just being herself and doing what she believed was right, rather than letting it stop her. Not that it was easy, not that it didn’t hurt, but she did the dang thing anyway.

Other reviews:

• Novel Knight
• Karis Rogerson
• Magical Reads
• The Roarbots

Similar books you might also enjoy: